Schuessler dominates for Benet

You can forgive the Downers Grove North players if they thought there was more than one Mark Schuessler playing for Benet on the other side of the volleyball net on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-7 Schuessler was all over the court, putting down 16 kills from a variety of locations to lead the host Redwings to a 25-19, 26-24 victory over the Trojans, who were playing only their fourth match of the season.

"Mark controlled our offense tonight," said Benet coach Amy Van Eekeren. "He's a powerful, dominant player and one of the main reasons we won tonight. He was also serving aggressively and passing well. He's carrying a heavy load as we try to get our other hitters involved."

"Tonight, we really had some energy and we came together and fought as a team," said Schuessler, who is happy to play the role of go-to guy. "I love to move around and get more swings. That has helped us create more chances for our other hitters."

In Game 1 the Redwings (8-3) took the lead at 6-5 on a Schuessler kill and never gave it up.

"We played a little more consistently and aggressively in Set 1," Van Eekeren said. "In Set 2 we let down a little and Downers made a big push. Our goal is to be consistent throughout the match."

In the second game the Trojans (2-2) played more aggressively and even held the lead for a spell later in the game.

They had tied it at 24-24 before the Redwings pulled out the victory.

Throughout the game the Trojans hurt themselves with a rash of service errors that put an end to several potential runs.

"Benet served at a high percentage and we served at a very low percentage," said Downers Grove North coach Mark Wasik. "We couldn't put the ball in bounds to make them earn their points. That's pretty basic."

Scott Kleiser added 5 kills and a pair of aces for the Redwings, Ben Mazza had 14 assists, while Logan Ladowski had 9 digs.

"Logan did a great job coming up with the ball," Van Eekeren said. "And he passed very well, keeping us in system for most of the match."

A good portion of the Downers Grove North offense came from its middle hitters as Jonathan Poortinga had 6 kills and Michal Mierzwa had 3. They both put up one scoring block. Colin Michels led the Trojans with 7 digs and setter Dan Gilbert dished out 16 assists.

"I'm disappointed in the way we played," Wasik said. "We look pretty decent in practice, but we're not replicating that in the game. Some of that is due to how few matches we've played. We're not ready to play at the speed other teams are playing at just yet. And Benet is a good team that will exploit you if you're not playing well. They run a fast offense. We just need experience."